From the back of the audio case: In the first sequel to Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Montgomery’s feisty red-headed heroine is now sixteen and a school teacher in the small village of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. Although older, she isn’t necessarily wiser – and she hasn’t outgrown her mischievous antics. She learns how complicated life can be when she takes two new orphans at Green Gables under her…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (0) Library (0) Purchased (1) – Key Lime Pie by Josi S. Kilpack Borrowed from family member (0) From Paperback Swap – (0) Won (0) – **It was quiet this week, but that’s ok – maybe I can catch up on all…
View Post
First line: According to Holly Maguire’s late grandmother, revered on Blue Crab Island, Maine for her fortune-telling as much as her cooking, the great love of Holly’s life would be one of the few people on earth to like sa cordula, an Italian delicacy. From the back cover: Holly Maguire’s grandmother Camilla was the Love Goddess of Blue Crab Island, Maine – a Milanese fortune-teller who could predict the right…
View Post
Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!! A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicki at Reading At The Beach. To join in, visit her blog for the guidelines and leave your link in a comment. THIS WEEK’S LETTER IS: “P” My book is: The Bachelor by Carly Phillips Synopsis from Amazon: The small town of Yorkshire Falls and its colorful inhabitants including a mysterious panty-raider and a fun-loving but devious mother are a sturdy…
View Post
First line: As Katie wound her way among tables, a breeze from the Atlantic rippled through her hair. From the inside cover: When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with…
View Post
FIR is hosted by Katrina atCallapidderdays. Every Tuesday this fall, Katrina will be posting a question about reading. Today’s question: Once you begin a book, do you feel compelled to finish it? Or have you been known to give up in the middle of a book, to walk away from a book that is just too annoying, boring, etc.? I have to say I think I have only abandoned one…
View Post
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesday. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (1) The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton Library (1) House Rules by Jodi Picoult (audio book) Purchased (1) – Cross Fire by James Patterson Borrowed from family member (0) From Paperback Swap – (0) Won (0) – What’s in your mailbox?
View Post
First line: Grief came in waves, hard and choppy, buffeting and breaking the heart. From the inside cover: #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts cordially invites you to meet childhood friends, Parker, Emma, Laurel, and Mac – the founders of Vows, one of Connecticut’s premier wedding planning companies. Parker Brown turned the quartet’s childhood game of Wedding Day into their dream jobs. And now she’s the face of…
View Post
Please join me in welcoming Barbara Delinsky, author of Not My Daughter to Always With a Book! If you missed my review, you can read it here. Today Barbara guest blogs about her moving from writing romance novels to fiction. Enjoy and be sure to enter the giveaway below! Breaking Out is Hard to Do… Okay. I know what at least a few of you are thinking. “Barbara Delinsky –…
View Post
FIR is hosted by Katrina atCallapidderdays. Every Tuesday this fall, Katrina will be posting a question about reading. Today’s question:Where do you get the books you read? Are you a faithful library patron? Or maybe a bookstore junkie? Do you exchange books with friends or family members? I tend to get my books from a number of places… * Library – I do use the library, sometimes more often than…
View Post
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesday. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other…
View Post
First line: Susan Tate never saw it coming. From the back cover: When Susan Tate’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an inconceivable tragedy both for Lily and herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among other high school juniors who happen to be Lily’s best friends. The town turns…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading isthe perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. Books Completed Last Week: Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts (mine) Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky (review – book…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (0) Library (2) Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (audio book) Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (audio book) Purchased (6) – all from library book sales Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush One for the Money by Janet Evanovich…
View Post
First line: “Nothing too hard.” From the back cover: Trina Stewart needs cash. Fast. She’s barely got enough dough to keep her fanny off the streets, let alone any spending money for hot nights clubbing on Sunset Strip. And her job teaching English as a Second Language is seriously lacking in both pay and glamour. But not just any job will do. She’s after a real Hollywood job. The kind…
View Post
It’s been a while since I’ve participating in the hop, but I couldn’t resist this week. Brought to you by Jennifer at Crazy For Books, the Book Blogger Hop is a fun way to get to know other book bloggers. This week’s question: “If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?” ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY YES! I…
View Post
December is my favorite time of year – I love everything about the holiday season, from decorating the house to shopping for gifts for loved ones to baking yummy holiday treats, plus my birthday also happens to be during this time! I saw a few blogs mentioning some holiday goings-on, so I decided to check them on. I am participating in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap for the first time.…
View Post
First line: Things aren’t always as they appear. From the inside cover: How does it feel to be desired by ever man and envied by every woman? Wonderful. This is the life Nora Sinclair has dreamed about, the life she’s worked hard for, the life she will never give up. When FBI agent John O’Hara first sees her, she seems perfect. She has the looks. The career. The clothes. The…
View Post
CONGRATULATIONS to Mary winner of The Life O’Reilly by Brian Cohen Random.org selected the winner. Thanks to all who entered the giveaway!
View Post
First line: The willingness of a Wall Street investment bank to pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars to dispense investment advice to grown-ups remains a mystery to me to this day. From the inside cover: When the crash of the U.S. stock market became public knowledge in the fall of 2008, it was already old news. The real crash, the silent crash, had taken place over the previous year,…
View Post
Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!! A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicki at Reading At The Beach. To join in, visit her blog for the guidelines and leave your link in a comment. THIS WEEK’S LETTER IS: “N” My book is: Vision in White by Nora Roberts Synopsis from Amazon: The frighteningly prolific Roberts kicks off a frothy series about four friends who form an all-inclusive wedding service called Vows. Mackensie ‘Mac’…
View Post
FIR is hosted by Katrina atCallapidderdays. Every Tuesday this fall, Katrina will be posting a question about reading. Today’s question:How did you get into reading? When and how/why did you really become “a reader”? I don’t remember at what age I actually learned to read, but I can always remember having books around me. My father was a teacher when we were younger and I always remember him bringing home…
View Post
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesday. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading is the perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. Books Completed Last Week: The Big Short by Michael Lewis (library, book club book) Honeymoon by James Patterson (mine)…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (2) Murder on the Down Low by Pamela Samuels Young Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky Library (1) Little Bee by Chris Cleave Purchased (2) – The Queen’s Captive by Barbara Kyle Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts From Paperback Swap –…
View Post
Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!! A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicki at Reading At The Beach. To join in, visit her blog for the guidelines and leave your link in a comment. THIS WEEK’S LETTER IS: “M” My book is: Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy Synopsis from Amazon: Bestselling author Binchy (Tara Road, etc.) again explores the depths of family relationships in an 11th warm, involving drama. Set in contemporary Ireland…
View Post
FIR is hosted by Katrina atCallapidderdays. Every Tuesday this fall, Katrina will be posting a question about reading. Today’s question:Where do you love to read? Note: I don’t mean where do you actually do most of your reading, because that might be the carpool line, the work cafeteria, or even the bathroom (if you have to escape from a few small children in order to read a chapter of your…
View Post
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesday. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other…
View Post
Here are my reading stats for October! Books read: 11 Books I read (reviewed ones have * and link to review) Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return* by Marjane Satrapi Love Means Zero* by Daisy Jordan Mini Shopaholic* by Sophie Kinsella Let’s Eat* by Denise Burroughs Devil’s Food Cake* by Josi S. Kilpack Don’t Blink* by James Patterson The Life O’Reilly* by Brian Cohen Perfection* by Julie Metz Love…
View Post
First line: This was going to be a solo show. From the back cover: Alice Cohen was happy for the first time in years. After a difficult divorce, she had a new love in her life, she was raising a beloved adopted daughter, and her career was blossoming. Then, she started experiencing mysterious symptoms. After months of tests, X-rays, and inconclusive diagnoses, Alice was sent for an emergency CAT scan…
View Post
First line: Almost home. From the back cover: Dear Reader, Guess what? I’m falling in love! With Mack McAfee. My baby daughter, Noelle, and I have been living next door to Mack since the spring. I’m still a little wary about our relationship, because I haven’t always made good decisions when it comes to men. My baby’s father, David Rhodes, is testament to that. I’m so worried he might sue…
View Post
First line: Lombardo’s Steakhouse on Manhattan’s tony Upper East Side was justly famous for two things, two specialties of the house. From the inside cover: Lombardo’s Steakhouse in New York is famous for three reasons: the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police’s fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit.…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (0) Library (0) Purchased (0) – From Paperback Swap – (0) Won (1) – The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (from CMash Loves to Read) What’s in your mailbox?
View Post
First line: As the elite of Manhattan sipped champagne and whispered in hush tones, Rafe Mancuso patted the Glock hidden beneath his tuxedo jacket. From the back cover: When hostage negotiator Rafe Mancuso takes a bullet to save Sara Rios, his former partner, his actions make him a bona fide hero – and New York City’s newest most eligible bachelor. Then Rafe admits that Sara is much more than just…
View Post
First line: “Have you seen Thom yet?” Sadie asked, craning her neck to peer into the corners of the temporary stage set up at the front of the ballroom at the Carmichael Hotel. From the back cover: Calling All Book Lovers! Please join us this Friday as the Garrison Library welcomes favorite son Thom Mortenson for a special appearance to discuss his bestselling novel Devilish Details. It’s guaranteed to be…
View Post
It’s been a while since I’ve participating in the hop, but I couldn’t resist this week. Brought to you by Jennifer at Crazy For Books, the Book Blogger Hop is a fun way to get to know other book bloggers. This week’s question: What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost? I would absolutely love to have a reading room in my house…
View Post
First line: OK. Don’t panic. From the inside cover: Sophie Kinsella has dazzled readers with her irresistible Shopaholic novels – sensational international bestsellers that have garnered millions of devoted fans and catapulted her into the first rank of contemporary storytellers. Now her beloved heroine Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) returns in a hilarious tale of married life, toddlerhood, and the perils of trying to give a fabulous surprise party – on…
View Post
First line: It happened like this: Henry’s footsteps on the old wooden floorboards. From the back cover: Julie Metz’s life changed forever on one ordinary January afternoon when her husband, Henry, collapsed on the kitchen floor and died in her arms. Suddenly, this mother of a six-year-old became the young widow in her bucolic small town. But that was only the beginning. Seven months after Henry’s death, just when Julie…
View Post
Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!! A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicki at Reading At The Beach. To join in, visit her blog for the guidelines and leave your link in a comment. THIS WEEK’S LETTER IS: “L” My book is: Peony in Love by Lisa See Synopsis from Amazon: Set in 17th-century China, See’s fifth novel is a coming-of-age story, a ghost story, a family saga and a work of musical…
View Post
A Week in Books WWW Wednesdays is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions… What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? What are you currently reading? 1022 Evergreen Place by Debbie Macomber What did you recently finish reading? Love Me If You Dare by Carly Phillips What do…
View Post
First line: “There has to be a better way,” I muttered, as I replaced the phone receiver on its cradle. From the back cover: On the outside, Nick O’Reilly has it all: a high-flying legal career, as a partner of an elite Wall Street law firm, and financial security, with an apartment overlooking Central Park. Having grown up in a working-class family, as far back as Nick can remember this…
View Post
FIR is hosted by Katrina atCallapidderdays. Every Tuesday this fall, Katrina will be posting a question about reading. Today’s question: When you read a book, do you read EVERYTHING? In other words, do you read the dedication, the acknowledgment, the foreword, the afterword, the prologue, the epilogue, the appendices, etc.? Or do you just read the “meat” of the book? Or is your approach somewhere in between? I read almost…
View Post
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesday. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (2) Hollywood Ending by Lucie Simone A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent Library (0) Purchased (0) – From Paperback Swap – (0) Won (0) – ***While my mailbox is quite light this week, I am ecstatic that I received the new Christine…
View Post
First line: November 1984. I am in Austria. From the inside cover: In Persepolis, heralded by the Los Angeles Times as “one of the freshest and most original memoirs of our day,” Marjane Satrapi dazzled us with her heartrending memoir-in-comic-strips about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Here is the continuation of her fascinating story. In 1984, Marjane flees fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to begin a…
View Post
First line: This is me when I was ten years old. From the inside cover: Originally published to wide critical acclaim in France, where it elicited comparisons to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years…
View Post
Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!! A-Z Wednesday is hosted by Vicki at Reading At The Beach. To join in, visit her blog for the guidelines and leave your link in a comment. THIS WEEK’S LETTER IS: “K” My book is: Secrets of the Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson Synopsis from Amazon: Eight-year-old Jane Popyncourt travels with her mother from France to the English court of Henry VII. She…
View Post
A Week in Books WWW Wednesdays is hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions… What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? What are you currently reading? Don’t Blink by James Patterson What did you recently finish reading? Devil’s Food Cake by Josi S. Kilpack What do you think…
View Post
First tip: Always keep your cooking area clean to prevent cross contamination. About the book: Denise Burroughs combines her rich Italian heritage with years of southern tradition in Let’s Eat!, her debut cookbook. Her love for cooking shines through in this comprehensive book, suitable for all levels of cooking experience. Let’s Eat! provides readers with simple, inexpensive dishes. Recipes range from “Potato Flake Chicken” to “Chocolate Italian Cookies.” Her strong…
View Post